The plane had taken off from Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport at 11.09pm and disappeared off the radar at 2.45am while on its way to Cairo International.

Greek defence minister, Panos Kammenos, said the plane made ‘sudden swerves’ in mid-air, swinging 90 degrees to the left then 360 degrees to the right.

It then dropped from 37,000 feet to 15,000ft before the signal disappeared around 10,000 feet.

Richard Osman, 41, is believed to have been flying to a gold mining company for business in Egypt when the plane went down (Picture: WALES NEWS SERVICE)

There were believed to be 30 Egyptians, 15 French, two Iraqis, and one from the UK, Belgium, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Chad, Portugal, Algeria and Canada among the 66 passengers on board the flight.